tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22370555.post114946994948751475..comments2023-09-30T05:49:48.885-07:00Comments on Reading Dirt: Review: Garden Open TomorrowUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22370555.post-1149570232040294072006-06-05T22:03:00.000-07:002006-06-05T22:03:00.000-07:00Thanks for the praise. I do, indeed, know about ho...Thanks for the praise. I do, indeed, know about how hydrangeas are a natural pH meter. My grandmothers both had large hydrangea bushes, which bloomed brilliant blue in our slightly acidic soil.<BR/><BR/>Here's hoping your wife fully recovers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22370555.post-1149566093556322562006-06-05T20:54:00.000-07:002006-06-05T20:54:00.000-07:00Thank you so much for the excellent review of Beve...Thank you so much for the excellent review of Beverley Nichols’ “Garden Open Tomorrow.” As a former executive past retirement age, I especially appreciated the references to gardening in our golden years. I must get this book, if only for the list of plants that require little care.<BR/><BR/>I know enough to stay away from ladders. My wife had to go in for a hip replacement, since her bones have become very fragile. I used to feel guilty for farming out the hard work, but no more. Let the young do the sweating. After all, perspiring in the garden was an accepted fact in my younger years. <BR/><BR/>Britain isn’t the only place with alkaline soil. We live in the Midwest and our soil contains a lot of limestone, thus it’s alkaline. I periodically add a bit of sulfur to neutralize the soil, enabling most of my flowers and vegetables to grow normally.<BR/><BR/>The focus on winter gardening reminds me of another excellent book, “The All Seasons Gardener” by Mark Cullen. Although he writes about Canadian conditions, we live close enough to our northern border to fit his criteria. He zeroes in on the Virginia Creeper, Winter Honeysuckle, Winter Jasmine, Wintergreen, and Witch Hazel as possible components in your garden that grow well into our coldest season. <BR/><BR/>A whole section on Christmas plants, discuss Azaleas (they like their soil moist), Christmas Cactus (require 14 hours of total darkness to flower), Cyclamen (don’t mind being mildly pot-bound), and that perennial favorite, Poinsettias (cut them back drastically after they start to fade to encourage new shoots).<BR/><BR/>Spring is sure to follow winter, and thank goodness, my wife has fully recovered from her operation and she feels like a new person. With her new lease on life, she is a worthy partner in my gardening endeavors. We are planting Daylilies, such as Stella D’Oro, and annuals, such as Heliotrope. The latter requires full sun to grow large clusters of fragrant blue flowers. <BR/><BR/>Did you know that Hydrangeas change color, depending on the pH of the soil? An alkaline soil produces pink flowers, while an acidic environment grows blue ones. Needless to say, we’ve been growing pink Hydrangeas for a number of years now.<BR/><BR/>We’ve experimented with a number of products to help us grow our plants, but lately we decided that the <A HREF="http://www.advancednutrients.com/organic_nutrients.html" REL="nofollow">Advanced Nutrients</A> company makes the best quality plant foods available on the market. Just like Beverley Nichols, we don’t believe in using poisons in our garden, nor harsh chemicals, so we use 100 % organic nutrients.<BR/><BR/>The same company also makes products with exotic names like <A HREF="http://www.advancednutrients.com/product_label_pdfs/Scorpion_Juice_hydroponic_plant_food.html" REL="nofollow">Scorpion</A> and <A HREF="http://www.advancednutrients.com/product_label_pdfs/Voodoo_Juice_hydroponic_plant_food.html" REL="nofollow">Voodoo Juice</A>, Tarantula, and Piranha. Their use insures a healthy, robust garden, whether you’re growing ornamentals or edible vegetables. The latter two colonize roots systems with beneficial fungi and bacteria, increasing the absorption of both macro and micro nutrients.<BR/><BR/>Plant science has come a long way since I was young, and the experts at Advanced Nutrients are extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of horticulture. A reliable resource like that is hard to find.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com